


Run baby run, don't ever look back

by Multifandom_damnation



Series: The Power of Potential [2]
Category: The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: Assassination Attempt(s), Character Development, Evil Speedsters, Gen, Prophetic Visions, Speed Force, Tags Are Hard, Team as Family, cisco's powers are essentially getting stronger, stupid little fic but you know what i tried my best, that and his friends are worried for him, thats all you need to know
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-08
Updated: 2019-02-08
Packaged: 2019-10-10 04:10:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,576
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17418851
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Multifandom_damnation/pseuds/Multifandom_damnation
Summary: Everything changes the day a speedster from another world arrives in the Cortex with a plan to kill Barry and parade his dead body around the street and a nameless woman with red hair and a flowing white dress comes to Cisco and unlocks all the potential he didn't know he had.Afraid of them or not, Cisco is going to use all the powers at his disposal to protect his friends. And if that includes doing something morally ambiguous, then so be it.





	Run baby run, don't ever look back

**Author's Note:**

> This is for @gaycloak who left a really nice comment on my last one and wanted a sequel (that I was already writing but was too lazy to post) and for @SamIAm who always goes through my fics and leaves the sweetest messages on some of the things I am most insecure about. I'm so glad for both of you. (I don't know how to mention people so I put @ in front of your name so the user doesn't get lost within the other bullshit)
> 
> Anyway, on another note, this one isn't as good as I wanted it to be?? And I was really hoping that it would be good but it's not so I'm sorry if you came here looking for a really well-written and thought of fic- you're about to be terribly disappointed. 
> 
> ALSO TAGGING IS FUCKING HARD PLEASE SOMEONE SHOW ME HOW TO TAG

Cisco knew he was coming: he saw the speedster in a vibe. A speedster dressed in green and black with red lightning and a knife-like sneer from another world, coming through a breach into their home and running straight to the Cortex.  
  
The team had been notified- everyone standing in the Cortex aiming guns and weapons at the hallway door. Killer Frost's hands were coated in ice that fell to the floor. Wally and Barry, dressed up in red and yellow, were ready to run towards whatever danger reared its ugly head. H.R and Joe were both aiming their most dangerous weapons at the hallway even though Cisco wasn’t sure H.R knew how it worked, while Iris manned the security cameras and Cisco stood at the back, his hands raised high.  
  
At first, they'd all been confused when Cisco's face went entirely blank and he stood abruptly upright, announcing rapidly that something dangerous was coming and that they needed to prepare as soon as possible. Now they stood ready, all dressed in the suits that Cisco had carefully made and watching the door with intense concentration and anticipation

Then suddenly, something changed.   
  
His world went azure and Cisco spun around in the vibe to watch the blue portal open up behind them and the speedster rush out, straight towards Barry and by the time the team had turned around, the speedsters hand was through Barry's chest, the arm going all the way through his body. Iris screamed as Barry fell to the ground. Cisco came out of the vibe with a strangled gasp.  
  
As Cisco walked towards the space where the breach should now appear, Barry turned around, confused. "Hey man, stay with us. We need you for this if what you're saying is true."  
  
Ignoring him, Cisco stood in the centre of the Cortex as he waited for the breach to open exactly where the empty model for Barry's suit stood.

  
For the third time that night, Cisco was plunged in blue- the future changed again. The speedster ran around the Cortex in a rush and killed the rest of the team in cold, bloody murder before shoving his hand through Barry's chest and snapping his neck, removing his mask and dragging his dead body through the town.  
  
No. He couldn't let that happen.  
  
Time seemed to slow down as Cisco blocked out their voices and thrust his hand out, a beam of light firing from his hand that his very proximity to it almost blinded him. Cisco felt like he was back in Flashtime as the speedster in green ran out of the breach and into Cisco's vibe blast, stopping him in his tracks. The look of excitement on the speedster’s face morphed into one of confusion then to pure fury.   
  
"Cisco-" Barry stuttered behind him, taking a step backwards and away. "How did you do that? How did he-"  
  
Ignoring him, Cisco took a step towards the speedster, then another, until the only thing separating them was Cisco's beam hitting its target against his chest. Frost called his name in concern, but Cisco ignored her too. There was a woman’s voice in his head, words as entrancing as liquid gold. If Cisco concentrated, he could hear her hair whipping in the non-existent wind. _"You can feel it; I know you can"._ She said. Yes- Cisco could feel it. The buzzing of the Speed Force in the green speedster’s stationary body, tickling his fingers and pulling at the skin, tingling like intense pins and needles with unlimited possibilities. _"Do it. Protect your friends. Protect those you love and cherish. Prove that I did not make the wrong decision."_  
  
Breathing deeply, Cisco reached up and placed his open hand against the speedsters chest, fisting his hand in the green and black uniform. "Cisco, you got him, that's enough," Joe said from behind him but Cisco couldn't hear him over the Speed Force vibrating in his ears. It was calling for him- Cisco could hear it whispering sweet mantras and promises. He searched it out- the feeling of extreme power, peeling away the layers of reality and time until he could _taste_ the crackling of electricity on his tongue. He watched as it breezed past in a void of static and sound. In the distance, he thought he saw the silhouette of a red-haired woman, watching him proudly. _"Do it."_ He heard in a honeycomb voice. Cisco felt empowered by those two words alone, feeling like all was well in the universe. As long as she was at his back.  
  
Cisco felt some small part of him fracture and shatter to fall somewhere deep within his ribcage. Closing his eyes, Cisco held tight to the tether, the Speed Force writhing in his grasp and with all his might, Cisco yanked his hand away and took the Speed Force in the speedsters body out and into his closed fist.  
  
With an ungodly cry, the speedster through his head back and fell to the ground as Cisco dropped the beam. Quivering in a heap, the speedster wrapped his arms around himself and moaned in pain. In Cisco's fist, a glowing, pulsating ball of crackling blue and yellow energy floated. When he let it go, it stayed in place exactly where he left it.   
  
"What did you do?" Wally asked, afraid.   
  
Couching down, Cisco took off the hood of the speedster and glared down at him. "How does it feel? It hurts, doesn't it?"  
  
On the ground, the speedster gasped for breath. "Make it stop."  
  
"You know what else hurts," Cisco continued as if he hadn't spoken, turning the mask over in his hands. "Is shoving your arm straight through my friend’s body and then murdering every last one of us in this room before you made your great escape." The speedster’s eyes widened in surprise. "That was your plan, wasn't it? You changed your method at the last moment hoping we wouldn't know. You might have... miscalculated."  
  
"Cisco," Frost breathed, partly in awe but partly in fear, and as she approached Cisco didn't stop her. "What did you do?"  
  
"Yeah," the speedster groaned. "What did you do to me?"  
  
Tilting his head, Cisco looked the man over. There was sweat beading at his brow and his chest was rising and falling as he gasped. "What do you call yourself? I don't care about your name, I'll figure that out later for myself. What's the name of the man in the green suit?" 

“Inertia.” He gasped, looking up at Cisco with eyes glassy with pain. “People call me Inertia.” 

“Right, terrible name. I could do much better.” Cisco gripped Inertia by the shoulder and lifted him up to shove his back against the wall. “Well, Inertia, that pain your feeling? Is the Speed Force having been taken out of your body. I know, crazy right? That thing up there?” Cisco pointed to the ball of light, hovering in the air. “Used to be in your body. It’s not anymore.”

There was a commotion behind him but Cisco couldn’t bring himself to care until a freezing cold hand was placed on his shoulder. “Cisco, what are you doing? You don’t know what this could do to him- it could permanently damage him.”

“Relax Frost,” Cisco assured, not even bothering to shrug off her hand. “I know what I’m doing.” It surprised Cisco to realise that yeah- he really did know what he was doing. She was at his back, the red-headed woman, and he suddenly realised that he knew everything he was doing. “There’s nothing to worry about.”

Inertia tried to take a swing at Cisco while he was occupied but Cisco easily held his hand up and caught the fist before it could hit him in the chin. He turned his head as Inertia looked at his fist in horror. “What did you do to me?” he repeated, trying to yank his hand away.

“I told you. I took the Speed Force out of your body.” Cisco shrugged like it was something he did often. “It’s up to you whether or not you get it back. Because I can do that you know- I can give it back to you. Put it right back into your body like nothing ever happened.”

Panting in fear, Inertia shifted where he sat. Cisco could feel his friend’s eyes boring holes into the back of his head- but he didn’t care. Let them be frightened. Let them be mad. They couldn’t understand. “Then what are you waiting for? Put it back!” Inertia finally shouted.

Cisco let go of his fist with a chuckle. “Not yet. Who sent you?”

“Oh, an interrogation?” Inertia spat as he crossed his arms like a grumpy child. “Like I haven’t done this before. Go ahead, do your worst. I won’t talk.”

Standing, Cisco walked back over to the Speed Force as he floated in the air. It was beautiful- wispy and all-encompassing. It stung Cisco’s fingers when he brought them closer, but not in a bad way- like getting a static shock from the friction of socks against the carpet. “I don’t think you have a choice. You don’t have your speed so you can’t exactly kill me and get away. And besides, I need to know where you’re from so I can send you back there.”

As if suddenly realizing the entirety of his situation, Inertia paled and leaned his head against the wall. Sighing from his nose, Inertia eyed Cisco with hatred as he paced around the Speed Force. “I’m not from this world or era. I’m from the future and but I was made in a different world.”

“Made?” H.R asked, cutting into the conversation. “How were you made?”

“He’s a clone,” Cisco assumed. Judging by the flinch from Inertia, he was right. “Don’t tell us who you’re a clone of. We really don’t want to know. You understand we don’t want to mess up the timeline, huh?”

Going back to looking at the Speed Force, Cisco reached his hand up and wrapped it around the glowing orb. He closed his eyes and it flowed down his arm and into his chest. He moved his hand- still the same speed. Good. He turned back to Inertia. “You get it back if I think you’ve earned it.” Turning away, Cisco yawned and stretching his hands above his head as he made it to the door.

“Wait, you’re just going to leave me here?” Inertia called. “You’re not going to tie me up?”

“Why would I do that?” Cisco laughed like the question was absurd. “You’re in a room with two extremely fast speedsters, a super cool woman who can freeze you to death, two madmen with guns and a badass woman on a mission. You can wander the complex but you won’t be able to leave- I’ll see you before you even get to the front door.”

That seemed to satisfy Inertia for a moment. Cisco took his goggles off and placed them into the inner pocket of his jacket, trying to avoid the headache he knew was coming on from using so much of his powers in such a short amount of time. Looking up slowly to smile at the rest of the room in reassurance, there were gasps and loud exclamations of surprise. “Um… what is it?” Cisco asked, confused and suspicions.

“Your eyes have changed again,” Caitlin whispered, Killer Frost taking a backseat for a moment as her eyes changed to brown and she put a hand over her mouth. “But… more.” Words seemed to fail her.

Frowning, Cisco turned to the polished glass of the wall beside him. She was right- his pupils were gold again, just like last time, but now the cornea was bright, glistening silver. He’d never noticed that before- maybe because his eyes were always hidden behind his glasses. Maybe it was a new occurrence. He wasn’t so sure. It didn’t matter anyway. He tilted his head and watched his reflection do the same, his eyes a stark contrast to the faint image in the glass. “Huh. That’s cool. Anyway, you guys don’t need to watch him. It’s all good, he’ll be fine. I’m sure it doesn’t even hurt anymore. Does it, Inertia?” Reluctantly, Inertia shook his head and Cisco took that as confirmation. “See? Anyway, don’t worry about him. He’s not going anywhere until I send him back. I’ll be in my workroom if you need me.”

The room was silent as he left and to fill in the too-quiet space in his ears, Cisco whistled loudly as he made his way down the hallway and into his workroom, the old song his mother used to sing to them a familiar lullaby as he sat down. Looking down at his chest, Cisco saw the faint glow of the Speed Force under his skin, vibrating at a frequency that was so fast Cisco almost couldn’t feel it.

“ _You did well,”_ someone whispered and when Cisco turned to see who it was, he was met with the red-headed woman. It wasn’t a vibe- he knew that much. He couldn’t tell if she was real or just a fragment of his imagination. _“I am proud. I knew you could do it.”_

“Did you want me to take his Speed Force?” Cisco asked, suddenly doubting himself. It had felt like the right thing to do at the time- was that what he was supposed to do?

 _“I don’t care what you choose to do.”_ She said honestly. She took a step closer and the closer to Cisco she came, the calmer Cisco felt. _“Every path you take is forever up to you. I have no power over your decisions. But I am pleased that you used the power you have to save your friends. You did not hold back- I am impressed.”_

Gulping, Cisco felt himself fidgeting at the praise. He wasn’t used to people praising him for his work. “Uh, thanks. Why did I do it? I’ve never done it before. I’ve never even thought about doing it but as soon as I saw him coming and what he was going to do, I couldn’t just let it happen. Did you… did you put the idea into my head? To take it from him?”

The woman didn’t answer his question, only tilted her head. There was no wind in his workshop- or wherever she was- so her hair moved across her shoulders as she observed him. “ _That does not matter. The real question- were you afraid of yourself or your powers as you were doing it?”_

“No,” Cisco answered, realising that for the first time in ages, he wasn’t afraid. He’d learned to accept his powers, even like them, but he’s always been afraid of the possibilities of what he could do and what he might become. “I wasn’t.”

 _“Then this was a success.”_ Her image started to fade away.

“Hold up- what do I call you?” Cisco called out. The woman was already gone by the time all the words were out of his mouth but he heard the chuckle of wind chimes in his ear.

Sighing, Cisco steepled his fingers under his chin as he spun the chair back around and leaned back. “That’s really annoying. If she won’t tell me her name, I’m going to give her one. That’s my job, right? Giving people names?” He thought for a moment, eyes darting to the ceiling. “April? Ninja Turtles? No, too on the nose, people with catch on.” He couldn’t be bothered thinking about who could possibly know what he was talking about. “Laura Croft? No, that makes no sense.”

There was a slight screech from the speaker on the wall and Iris’s voice came through. “Hey  Cisco, we need you back in the Cortex if that’s alright.”

Instead of replying, Cisco stood up and made his way through the hallway towards the Cortex, his previous name hunting quest momentarily abandoned. “What’s up?” he asked as he entered the Cortex, running a hand through his hair.

“We need to figure out what to do with him,” Barry said, crossing his arms and leaning against a wall as Cisco approached. “We can’t just leave him here.”

Inertia sat exactly where Cisco left him, hunched over and with his head in his hands. “What about him? Just put him in a cell and be done with him if you don’t want to send him back.”

“Wait, you can send him back?” Wally asked, face contorting into confusion as he tried to take in the information. “Why didn’t you mention this before?”

“Dude, why do you think I was asking him all those questions about where he was from?” Cisco laughed, turning back to Barry. Inertia looked up, hopeful, but Cisco ignored him. “You want him to have his powers or not? Because we’ve got options.”

Barry exchanged a glance with Iris and Caitlin. “What kind of options?” He asked suspiciously.

Cisco placed a hand over his heart as if he were hurt but quickly dropped it as he gathered the atmosphere form the room. “Well, we can give him back his powers and put him in the Pipeline or get him a meta-cell in Iron Heights. We could _not_ give him back his powers and just put him in a normal cell. Or I’ll give him his powers back and send him home.”

“Why would you send me back?” Inertia asked, small and timid on the floor. His face was so open, so hopeful- Cisco reached for the mask sitting on the counter and threw it back at him. Inertia caught it and continued. “You have me here. I tried to kill you. Why would you send me back?”

“Well,” Cisco shrugged. “If you really don’t want to go we can lock you up here. Or, you can shut up and take our generosity in stride. Besides, we really don’t want you here.”

Killer Frost took a step forward and prowled around Inertia. “Why should we give it back to you? Why do you deserve it?” The double resonance of her voice gave Cisco the chills- but he supposed that was the point. Inertia stayed silent.

“I don’t care either way,” Cisco put in, letting them know his side of the debate. He almost missed H.R's look of concern and the glance he shared with Joe, but that was something for him to bring up later. “It’s no hassle, no matter what we chose. I give it back or I keep it.”

“You really don’t care if you give him back his powers and send him back where he came from?” H.R asked, raising an eyebrow.

“I really don’t,” Cisco said. “He’s better off there than he is here- our world is different. Anyway, if he really is from our future, he could mess up the timeline being here for as long as he is.” The others nodded in agreement. “Anyway, I doubt he’ll be coming back here anytime soon. And if he does, we can take care of him.”

 "Are you sure it's safe to send him back?" Iris asked, glaring at Inertia out of the corner of her eye. "I mean, what if he comes back? What if he tells people about us?"  
  
"He won't," Cisco assured, crouching down right in front of Inertia and grinned. "Because he knows that if I can send him back, I can follow. And if he tells anyone about what happened here, or tries to come back, I'm going to take the Speed Force from his body again and then lock him in a cell so deep underground and so protected that he'll never see light again." He smiled wider. "Isn't that right, Inertia?"  
  
The speedster nodded his head hastily and Cisco stood, patting him on the shoulder. "Let's get you out of here, yeah?" He turned to the others. "You guys sure? He can stay if you don't want him back there."  
  
"You're sure that you'll send him back to the right time and place?" Joe looked doubtful and shrugged at Cisco's annoyed look. "I mean; you've just never done it through timelines before! What if you send him to the prehistoric times?"  
  
Cisco shrugged. "Then the dinosaurs are about to have a very interesting snack." He ignored the fearful squeak that came from Inertia. "No objections? Alright, let's go." Cisco grabbed Inertia by the shoulder and lifted him up. Concentrating, Cisco imagined the Speed Force running down his arm and into the palm of his hand. With a push, Cisco shoved the Speed Force into Inertias body and the speedster gasped as if something missing inside of him had just been replaced. Cisco realized that it actually had.  
  
Beneath his fingers, Inertia started buzzing and Cisco shoved him roughly against the nearby wall. "Don't even think about it," Cisco warned in a low, heavy voice. Inertia swallowed and stopped buzzing. "Let's send you on your way. Hold on," he warned with a wink.  
  
As he closed his eyes, Cisco concentrated on the vibration coming from Inertias veins, connected it to whatever world he was from. Tethering himself to that, Cisco opened up a breach that matched the same vibrations and sent him through with a shove to the back. The breach closed behind him and the room fell silent as Cisco wiped his hands clean of invisible dust. "That was easier than I thought." He snorted. "I thought it would take a couple of tries to get the right vibrations but I got it on the first try."  
  
"Cisco, how long have you been able to do all this?" Barry asked, surprised. He looked around at the rest of the team gathered and realized that they looked as shocked and confused as he felt.   
  
Scratching the back of his head, Cisco thought about it. When he found that he couldn't come to any conclusion, he just shrugged. "I don't know. Every time she tells me that I can do something new I always end up doing it."   
  
The team seemed to flounder at the new information. "You didn't think to mention this before?" Joe raised his hands in the air. “This very crucial thing?”

“I didn’t think it was important.” Cisco defended, taking a step back. “I told you what she said to me- I thought it was obvious. It doesn’t matter anyway.”

“When you say “she”, are you talking about the Crazy Lady from your dream?” H.R asked, tilting his head to the side. “When we found you on the floor?”

“Yeah, that one. I’m trying to come up with a name from her. I was thinking maybe Lucy. You know, from the movie?” Cisco looked around the room of unimpressed faces, save for H.R, who was contemplating it with a hand on his chin. “I’m much better at naming meta’s than people.”

“Stick with naming mata’s, I think,” Barry said gently, trying to keep the situation on track. He looked beside him and realized that Caitlin had realized the same thing he had if the way her eyes tracked Cisco’s movement around the lab had anything to say. Her hair was fading from snow white to her usual brown and her skin was starting to warm up slightly- her piercing blue eyes dimming. “Does she talk to you?”

Nodding, Cisco walked around the console and towards the hallway door. “Yeah, all the time. She comes and talks to me- she did just before you called me. Anyway, if you need me you know where to find me- I have heaps of things to walk on.”

As Cisco disappeared through the doorway the group turned to each other. They were silent for a while, thinking about what just happened until Wally spoke up. “So… I’m not the only person who thinks something’s up with him, right?”

“No Wallace, I think you’re right. Something is defiantly up.” H.R agreed, tapping his drumstick against his chin as he thought. “I’m just not sure what it is.”

Sighing, Barry leaned against the wall and ran his hands down his face. He was suddenly exhausted. “I don’t think he knows what’s happening. I think this woman is putting thoughts into his head and he’s just going along with it.”

“It’s not like Cisco to not to question things like that.” Iris objected. “Maybe he just… doesn’t think anything is different? Maybe he thinks everything’s ok?”

“He’s more powerful,” Caitlin said sharply, her eyes still glued on the exit. “Didn’t you see? He didn’t have his glasses on- or his gloves. He did all that without them. He doesn’t need them anymore.”

H.R raised his hand like a student in class. “Do you think this woman really exists?” The room paused as the words sunk in and they all exchanged glances. “I mean, not exists at all, we know she does, but do you think she’s just a figment of his overactive imagination?”

“He says she talks to him,” Wally said. “I don’t think he’s getting all that information from himself. I think someone really is talking to him.”

“He’s not afraid,” Caitlin muttered, shrugging off the wave of cold as her eyes finally turned back to brown. “Not anymore. I think this woman, whoever he is, is stopping him from fearing his powers. I think that’s why he’s getting stronger.”

Iris frowned and walked back to where the breach had opened, running her hand over the wall as she thought. “Well is this a good thing or a bad thing? Should we be worried that his powers are getting stronger and he’s feeling more confident in himself and his abilities to use them?”

“I have no clue,” Joe shrugged, eyeing Cisco’s gear, lying discarded and untouched on the table. “But all I know is that I don’t want to get on Cisco’s bad side any time soon. Who knows what he’s capable of now, after having all those chats with the freaky lady.”

H.R took this moment to stroll around the room with his hands behind his back. “My only concern is that our dearest Francisco doesn’t see the wrong in what he’s doing.” He straightened up to glance around the room. “Maybe he knows he’s more powerful but just not how much more powerful? Maybe he thinks what he’s doing is right because he’s unlocking un-touchable potential?”

“What if this lady in his dreams is the issue?” Wally asked, tilting his head and watching H.R pace with a frown. “He’s only doing new and amazing things once she tells him to, or gives him the idea. What if all this is only happening because this lady is making it happen?”

“It’s not like he’s keeping secrets from us though,” Iris pointed out. “He told us right from the start about this woman and you don’t have to be a scientist or a journalist to connect the dots.”

“I’ll go talk to him,” Caitlin announced, tying her hair up with a hair tie and rolling up her sleeves as if going on a mission. “See if I can find out what’s going on. Maybe he’ll talk to me about whoever this woman is.”

Barry pinched the bridge of his nose and watched her leave with a sigh. “I feel like things just got a lot more complicated than they need to be.” Iris laughed softly and put her arms around his shoulders.

**Author's Note:**

> Also, if ANYONE wants to help me come up with a name for this mysterious red-headed lady, either her real name or what Cisco calls her (maybe both???) I would GREATLY APPRECIATE IT


End file.
